The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness

You should be quite as anxious to talk with propriety as you are to think, work, sing, paint, or write, according to the most correct rules. Always select words calculated to convey an exact impression of your meaning. Let your articulation be easy, clear, correct in accent, and suited in tone and emphasis to your discourse. Avoid a muttering, mouthing, stuttering, droning, guttural, nasal, or lisping, pronunciation. Let your speech be neither too loud nor too low; but adjusted to the ear of your companion. Try to prevent the necessity of any person crying, "What? What?" Avoid a loquacious propensity; you should never occupy more than your share of the time, or more than is agreeable to others. Beware of such vulgar interpolations as "You know," "You see," "I'll tell you what." Pay a strict regard to the rules of grammar, even in private conversation. If you do not understand these rules, learn them, whatever be your age or station. Though you should always speak pleasantly, do not mix your conversation with loud bursts of laughter. Never indulge in uncommon words, or in Latin and French phrases, but choose the best understood terms to express your meaning. Above all, let your conversation be intellectual, graceful, chaste, discreet, edifying, and profitable.